rant whine 'splain espouse: why tags can be both good and bad

Friday, July 28, 2006

why tags can be both good and bad

One of the best things about tags is that they give non-hierarchical control to users of a site, thereby allowing an organization with, say, two people, to effectively leverage the far greater power of a volunteer staff of hundreds or thousands of users, as those users engage with and enhance the site's content through the use of tags.

Sites like digg are a great example of this.

Of course, there's a downside. You're giving over a level of editorial control to basically any wacko who walks in off the, er, Internet.

Thanks in part to Ynnej's inability to just simply smile for a damn photo, and in part to the ability for any Consumating.com member to tag another member whatever they want, I am currently the only person on Consumating tagged ear_sex_guy.